Aquatic World

Aquarium in Japan, Shinagawa Aquarium

2011-07-26T12:09:00.004+05:30

Shinagawa Aquarium is one of the most popular aquarium galleries in the Tokyo area other than Sunshine City Aquarium.
Popular features include a dolphin and sea lion show, white alligators, gray reef sharks and seals. As the name suggests, it is in Shinagawa. During Christmas there are special Sea lion show, the tanks are decorated with a Christmas theme. The fun part of this aquarium is walking through an underwater glass tunnel while some 450 species of fish swim around and above you. There are no pamphlets or explanation panels in English. Also the dolphin and sea lion shows draw crowds on Sundays in an impossible numbers. Take the local Keihin-Kyuko private rail line from Shinagawa to Omori-kaigan Station. Turn left as you exit the station and follow the ceramic fish on the sidewalk to the first traffic light; then turn right. You can also take the JR Tokaido Line to Oimachi Station; board a free shuttle to the aquarium from the No. 6 platform at the bus terminal just outside Oimachi Station.

Timing:
10:00 - 17:00 (Last entry at 16:30), Dolphin and Sea Lion show thrice daily on varied schedule.

Shinagawa Aquarium Closed on:
Tuesday and Jan 1. Open on Tuesdays during holidays or school vacations.

Entry Fees in Shinagawa Aquarium:
Adult (+ high school) 1,300 yen
Junior high and elementary 600 yen
4 and up 300 yen

Contact No of Shinagawa Aquarium - 03-3762-3433

Access Point by Train:
The aquarium is accessable by JR (Omori Station) or Keihin trains (Omori-Kaigan) from Shinagawa Station.

History of Shinagawa Aquarium:

There are newer, larger and more innovative aquariums in Japan but except for Tokyo Sea Life Park they aren't anywhere near Tokyo. Shinagawa Aquarium is well worth seeing for those in the Tokyo region. The aquarium was opened in October, 1991 and has established a tradition of opening a new section for every 5 year anniversary. Penguin land was opened in August 1996 and was followed by the shark tank in 2001 and the seal observation building in 2006.

The Shinagawa Aquarium Gallery:

The first sections of the aquarium deal with the native fish of rivers of Tokyo. There is a surprising diversity of fish. Most of the displays are medium or smaller sized when compared with other aquariums in Japan.

The underwater tunnel through the large tank is still as impressive as when the aquarium opened. The tank holds a variety of aquatic creatures.

Similarly, the rain-forest tank holds almost as much fish as it does water. Feeding time at the later tank is not to be missed. The giant sedate monsters come to life and snap up the food the second it hits the water. That was the first time I had seen Arapima Gigas from so close.

The final sections that contain the 5 year anniversary additions are some of the best parts of Shinagawa Aquarium. The spotted seal observation building is probably the best exhibit in the aquarium.

The shark tank is a bit understated but watching the shark swim by so close felt extraordinary.

The penguin exhibit is not so well decorated, but the penguins are real cute.

Last but not the least, the Dolphin and Sea lion show. I had miised the sea lion show though.

How to Reach Shinagawa Aquarium:

Of the two train lines that run along the coast south of Tokyo, Keihin runs the one with the closest stop (Omori-Kaigan Station) to Shinagawa Aquarium. Keihin's line only connects from Shinagawa Station to Haneda Airport so you'll have to change trains at Shinagawa Station if you're coming from somewhere else in Tokyo. JR Omori Station on the Keihin-Tohoku Line is a 15 minute walk and the other is only 8 minutes away.

A free shuttle bus operates between JR Oimachi Station and Shinagawa Aquarium. This is a major train line intersection between Shinagawa station and the aquarium. The buses are at 15 minute intervals at peak times and departs from the number 6 bus stop. The bus ride takes about 15 minutes.

A water taxi from Hinode Pier goes to Shinagawa Aquarium. One way combo tickets can be bought at both sides. This route does not operate when the aquarium is closed.

This article and many more are posted in my travelogue.

Famous Aquarium in Tokyo, Sunshine Aquarium

2011-07-26T12:07:00.003+05:30

During my stay in Tokyo I have visited 2 aquarium galleries,

Shinagawa Aquarium
Sunshine City Aquarium.

The Sunshine International Aquarium is located in the the Sunshine City building. This building also have an observatory in the topmost floor which can be reached by the elevator at a tremendous speed. The main attractions of Sunshine City Aquarium are seal and sea lion show, a feeding show with manta rays, utsubo, which is a very large fish that looks like a coin, and a large number of freshwater, brackish and saltwater tanks. The Sunshine City Aquarium also has an enclosure of penguins, another of some pelicans and a big enclosure of some land animals like monkeys, macaws, armadillo, anteater and something that looks like a mix between a deer and a rabbit where some persons can enter and have a stay with close proximity with the animals. The Sunshine City Aquarium is not a very big aquarium but it has a good variety of fish and sea life. The aquarium also has a section where you can touch and connect various type of animals, fish, birds, reptiles etc. which is very innovative and must conscious people about conservation of these beautiful animals.

The Sunshine International Aquarium has one the endangered Eastern Snake Neck Turtle. There are tanks featuring marine life from virtually all waters of the world. Several tanks showcase the diversity of Japan's coast, while others tour around Australia, the Caribbean, fresh water fish from the Amazon, Thailand and Africa, deep water fish and jellyfish.

The biggest tank, which holds the manta rays and utsubo, has a feeding show every couple of hours; a diver goes in and handfeeds some of the fish. Especially interesting is to see the manta ray devour in one gulp a baby octopus. During the show the diver tells something in Japanese which I could not understand but the children likes the show very much. They also give torch during the show in the evening and switch off the lights inside the aquarium to give a feeling of diving in dark underwater.

It is to be mentioned that they maintain natural day evening night like light period in all the tanks. Watch the same tank during morning and evening lights below:

The sealion show in the Sunshine Aquarium is really interesting. It can calculate mathematical addition somehow. Because the sea lions have been taught Japanese manners, it's a really interesting display. Notably, they've been taught to bow. This is definitely a great place to take your children to spend a pleasant afternoon. Some of the attendants speak English, there's an English pamphlet, and the bigger exhibits are marked in English. There's a really cool underwater demonstration in one of the tanks, but it is only available in Japanese. Only downside is that I think it is somewhat expensive, 1800 yen for adults and 900 yen for children ages 4 though 15. Children under 4 are admitted free of charge.

Some photos of the saltwater or marine tanks in Sunshine Aquarium:

A School of RedDevil Cichlids and Midas Cichlid and Oscar fand couple of turtles in Sunshine City Aquarium including a breeding pair of red devil who actually bred when I visited:

There are some species of poison dart frogs in paludariums in a section of the Sunshine aquarium gallery and they are stunning.

The skeletons, the different colors showing how soft or hard the bones are:

The Mangrove Biotope tank in Sunshine Aquarium:

Some more freshwater tanks in Sunshine Aquarium:

Some Reptiles in the Sunshine Aquarium:

There is one very interesting creature, the Japanese giant salamandar in Sunshine Aquarium.

And some mysterious creatures in Sunshine Aquarium:

The Sunfish

The Penguins are real cute and so are the pelicans:

I managed to enter inside the enclosure of the land animals and birds, and guess what they are all running and walking beside my legs. And believe me, froma close proximity macao are only good to see, not to listen to their angry voice:

And lastly the section where people can touch (I have touched a shark baby, with a slightly rough skin in one direction and very smooth in the opposite direction, it was a great feeling) the creatures and go real close to them:

How to Reach Sunshine Aquarium:

The skeleton near ticket counnter

While the aquarium is part of the Sunshine City complex, it's actually at the top of the World Import Mart. Once you get to Sunshine City, you can get directions. There's an information desk down stairs, and the attendant there can give you directions to the aquarium in English.

Nearest Station: Higashi-ikebukuro

Address of Sunshine Aquarium: World Import Mart Bldg., Sunshinecity, 3-1 Higashi-Ikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo.
Telephone: 03-3989-3466

Home Page of Sunshine Aquarium: http://www.sunshinecity.co.jp (In Japanese)

Timing of Sunshine Aquarium: Mon-Fri 10:00am-6:00pm; Sat, Sun & Holidays 10:00am-6:30pm; Entrance is allowed until 30 minutes before closing time.

Entry Fees of Sunshine Aquarium:

Adults: 1800 yen,

Children(from 4 years to Grade School): 900 yen

This article and many more are also posted in my travelogue.

Sciaenochromis fryeri or the Electric Blue Hap

2011-07-14T23:04:00.004+05:30

Introduction to Sciaenochromis fryeri:

Sciaenochromis fryeri or the "Electric Blue Hap" is a Lake malawi haplochromis species. The breeding blue color of the male haps are best shown in S. Fryeri. The females are brownish-grey to silver, very difficult to distinguish from the Kadango cichlid females. The male in this species is very popular in the hobby for their stunning color. Sometimes they may show dark vertical bars on their body which is a sign of stress, and it is farely common in Malawi haps.

Color Variants of Sciaenochromis fryeri:
There are many color morphs of S. Fryeri present throughout Lake Malawi, but all have the same electric blue as the base color. Main difference found is in their fins. There are also some hybrids of S. Fryeri present in the hobby.

Sizes of S. Fryeri:

The wildcaught S. Fryeri measures sizes of 12-14 cm in general, but there are specimens collected from Likoma Island having a length of over 20 cm. In the aquarium, all variants can grow to 20 cm in length. The females of this species, like most African Cichlid species, tend to be slightly smaller than the males.

Feeding Sciaenochromis fryeri:

In the wild Fryeris hunt Utaka or mbuna juveniles. In the aquarium, they will readily eat mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, krill, High Quality Flakes, High Quality Pellets.

Breeding S. Fryeri:
The Fryeri is relatively easy to breed and usually produces broods of up to 60 or 70 fry. It is a polygamous mouthbrooder. In the wild, males construct large volcano-like structures by sand and then tries to entice a female to enter into this structure to spawn with him.In home aqua you need to form caves from rocks and put sand as substrate to breed Fryeris.

The S.Fryeri are called the playboy of Lake Malawi. They very often spawn with other species females, and specially with aulonocara.

Malawi Tank

2011-07-08T18:32:00.006+05:30

Want some active colorful fishes. Keep Malawi cichlids, the most colorful freshwater fishes. Below are some photos from my malawi tank. In Kolkata you can get many options of malawi cichlids in Galiff Street market.

Geophagus Redhead Tapajos

2011-07-08T18:28:00.004+05:30

The most colorful of all the Geophagus species is the Redhead Tapajos. Even smaller tetras can be tankmate of Geophagus Redhead Tapajos, as they are timid and usually do not bully other fishes. The smallest tank or aquarium size for Geophagus Redhead Tapajos is 3'-1.5'-1.5' (LBH) tank. Geophagus Redhead Tapajos needs clean little acidic water and some driftwoods. As the best substrate in a Redhead Tapajos tank you can use fine sand. They dig a lot in search of food and so need fine sand so that they do not harm their mouth. Good filtration is necessary as the substrate is disturbed very often.

Find below some snaps from my 5'-2'-2' Geophagus Redhead Tapajos tank in Kolkata.

C. Borleyii, the Red Kadango Cichlid

2010-05-31T18:40:00.003+05:30

Introduction to Red Kadango:

This African Lake Malawi cichlid is an An easily kept fish, only need is a descent size tank that has dedicated rock structure to hide, if more than one fish is present. Male female distinction is very explicit, and easy to distinguish from in smaller fishes as well. So a pair is ideal to keep in a tank, the red kadango or redfin kadango can easily be bred. Various color morphs are present in the aquahobby, the color is mainly dependent on which point of the lake malawi it is collected from. They are not overly aggressive like most of the other malawi cichlids, and should not be kept with aggressive fishes like mbunas. Recommended to keep with lake malawi cichlids only, do not ever mix CS American cichlid with malawi or tanganyikan or victorian lake cichlids. Their requirement is all different including food habit, ideal pH, temperature, aggression level etc. If constantly bullied, the red kadango may become timid and not fare well. The beautiful red color in the body does not show up well.

Check the article on my MALAWI TANK here.

What to feed your red kadango:
The red kadango cichlid is omivorous, it will readily take flake or pellet food formulated for african cichlids. Hikari cichlid gold/biogold is good diet, if you can feed them purely with NLS cichlid formula. Diet should be supplimented with fresh green vegetables such as lettuce, spinach, peas or zucchini slices. Once in a week fresh prawn can be given as treat. Also dried bloodworms,shrimps can be offered.

Breeding C. Borleyi:
This fishes are typical mouthbrooder, that means females take all the eggs in mouth until they are freeswimming fries. Keep a ratio of 1:3 male and females. Once females are holding eggs they can be transferred to another tank to avoid harrassment from the males.

Sexing Red kadango:
Male red kadango are more colorful than the female. The males have bright orange body and a dark purple/blue head. Females and juveniles have grey bodies and orangish fins. During spawning time the egg tube is clearly visible in the female lower body part.

Temperament to tankmates:
The red kadango is generally peaceful considering other lake malawi cichlids. But during spawning time they can be aggressive to the tankmates, and this is natural behaviour of the cichlids. If there is only one female it will be harassed by the male fish. And if there is smaller fishes those can be fitted in tis mouth, they will surely est them.

Tank setup for C. Borleyi:
Copadichromis borleyi or Red Kadango should be kept in a tank with rock structure to give places for hiding. Also enough free swimming spaces should be provided. The red kadango is very sensitive to nitrites so a good water quality is essential else they will gradually lose the vibrant color.

Common Diseases: Malawi bloat is very common to these type of fishes. And the cause is feeding the fish with too much protein or fat. So a varied diet should be provided. Always check the fish movement, ich is another common problem for this fish.

Dimidiochromis Strigatus, the false eyebiter cichlid

2010-05-27T12:44:00.002+05:30

Introduction to Dimidiochromis Strigatus, the false eyebiter cichlid:
Dimidiochromis Strigatus looks similar to the eyebiter cichlid, the dimidiochromis compressiceps. It is a predator fish like the eyebiter. Typically fed on smaller mbuna as well as insects.

It's common name is Haplochromis Sunset.

It reaches atmost a size of 11" in home aquaria.
A pH of 7.8-8 is good with hard water preferable. It can adjust in a varied temerature range, though

The overall behaviour of this fish toward other tankmates varies due to such factors as aquarium size, stocking levels and order of introduction. There may even be some variability among individual specimens. They are in particular most aggressive towards the same species.

Feeding Dimidiochromis Strigatus is not at all difficult, since it takes almost any type of food, pellets,flakes,live and dried worms, prawn, meat, snails, brine shrimp, spirulina. Although meaty foods are particularly helpful to bring out its vibrant colors. Raw shrimps once a week is really needed.

The head profile a more concave appearance above the eye. The mouth is large, typical to all dimidiochromis group. The fin shows bright orange color during spawning time. This fish is very territorial, even without the presence of females and other male strigatus, they usually guard a territory.

Dario Dario, the most colorful native fish for planted tank

2010-05-27T12:26:00.001+05:30

Scarlet badis/ Dario dario:
Dario dario or the Scarlet badis, this beautiful red colored fish is native to India, in particular the northern part of West Bengal, usually found in the streams of the North Bengal's hillstream area. This fishes have many characteristics of cichlids group, and for many days they are seemed to be a cichlid. I have kept a dozen of them in my planted tank, and found them dig for live worms those hide in the sandy bottom.

Size of the Dario dario:
The male Dario Dario raches the size upto 2cm and the female can be at most 1.3cm. They are ideal for planted nano tanks.

Tank for Dario dario:
A pair or single male dario dario with a group of females can be kept in a 10gallon tank, planted tank is the best for them. In fact a heavily planted tank will help keep them healthy and most active. It also require a lowlight tank to thrive and show their natural behaviour. a sandy bottom is ideal to mimic their natural habitat, water flow is important.

Tank parameters fo dario dario:
Temperature should be in 18-26C, pH can range from 6.5-8.

Feeding the dario dario:This fishes are micropredators in their natural habitat. And you can notice this behavior in home aquarium as well. They usually feed on small aquatic crustaceans, worms, insect larvae and other zooplankton. They are little picky in the home aquariums and may not accept dried foods, even mine do not agree on high quality dried blood worms. So live worm is the best option for them apart from smallest pieces of fresh shrimps. You can also try to starve them for one or two days and check if they accept dry foods.

Compatibility of dario dario:
This fishes are not too much aggressive, and can be kept in a community tank if the tankmates are chosen suitably. It is a slow moving fish and it may so happen that their tankmates finish the food before they can even start. Peaceful fishes like smaller Rasbora species make good choices with Otocinclus and similar small pygmy Corydoras catfish.
Housing one male with a small group of females is the best because rival males can be aggressive towards one another, especially in smaller tanks.

Breeding dario dario:
This fishes are not usually too difficult to breed. If you are keeping multiple males in the same tank then provide each with space to form a territory, also plants in the breeding tank is helpful, feeding the fish with plenty of live and frozen protein enriched foods increase the possibility of successful spawning. High temperature may also help.

Sexing dario dario:
This fishes are sexually dimorphic. That means you can identify the male female of the fishes seeing outer body patterns. The males are brighter, more reddish than the female. The females usually are paler and have bluish patterns on their body color. Usually there are a male gang leader in the group.
As they come into breeding condition males will form territories and show excellent bright colors. The female lay 70-100 eggs at one time. The eggs are hatched within 26-28 hours, and the fries are free swimming in 4-5days. During this period, the male dario dario takes up all the responsibility to protect the babies. The dario dario fry should be fed on artemia/daphnia or pellet dust.

Salvini Cichlid

2010-05-25T23:18:00.001+05:30

Scientific name: Cichlasoma salvini / Nandopsis salvini
Common name: Salvini cichlid, Salvin's Cichlid, Yellow-Belly Cichlid, Tricolor Cichlid
Max. size: 22 cm / 9 inches (usually less)
pH range: 7.0 – 8.0
dH range: 5-20
Temperature range: 22 - 27°C / 72 - 81°F
Introduction to Salvini Cichlid:
The Salvini cichlid is a very beautiful mid sized fish that are mostly suitable for community south American or Central American cichlid aquariums with other semi aggressive cichlids. The temperament of this fish varies with the nature of the tankmates. The fish is not suitable for complete beginner to aquarium hobby, but they are good for those who have kept ishes,but this is the first time they are trying cichlids. These fishes are hardy and easy to care for.

The Salvini cichlid s common in this hobby. This fish can be found under the names of Yellow-Belly Cichlid and Tricolor Cichlid.

The Salvini Cichlid takes on the most vivid colors during the time of breeding. They do not always appear terribly colorful, most of the time colored either pale yellow or grey, they take on bright color variations at the time of spawning.

Salvini cichlid habitat and range:
Salvini cichlids are mainly found in fast and moderate moving water of the Atlantic side of Central America where it can be found from southern mexico down through Guatemala and Belize. There might also exist populations further south in Honduras.

Salvini cichlid description:
The Salvini cichlid is a very beautiful cichlid that has an sharp front . The body has a bright yellow base colour. Two black lines run across the body front to back on the upper half of the body. The lower half of the body usually shows different amounts of blue and red. The fins are yellow, red and blue.The fins are reddish during the spawing time.

Salvini cichlid setup:
Salvini cichlids seldom grow beyond 6 inches in home aquaria. They can be kept in smaller aquariums than many other of the Central American cichlid species. A 40 gallon for a pair is enough, whereas you need a 30 gallon aquarium to keep a single specimen. But like other fishes a larger tank would be better alwas.
Live plants are not at all necessary, and they will be uprooted soon by the salvini cichlid. A rock structure is more preferable with some driftwoods, or roots. The Salvini cichlid likes to dig so it is recommendable to place rocks carefully so that it does not break the glass. This makes it easier for the fish to create borders for their territories and allows for more territories and less aggression in the aquarium tank.

They prefer a pH of 7 and a temperature of 22 - 27°C / 72 - 81°F. They are however very hardy fish and can adapt to many different setups.

Salvini cichlid tank mates:
Salvini cichlids are not suitable for community aquariums even though they sometimes work well in community setups. A smaller fish will suddenly be its food sometime. And they bite a lot, so they are not recommended for peaceful community aquariums. They are however suitable to keep with other Central and South American cichlids of similar size and similar aggression level. A more aggressive ones will bullied the salvini cichlid, and the salvini cichlid will be in hiding mode.

Salvini cichlid care:

The Salvini cichlid is easy to care for. They are hardy fishes. Like other cichlids they produce a lot of waste so regular large water changes are a necessity. That means a-% WC, not a 90%, because that can hamper the stability in pH,temperature issue and may cause a sudden chlorine spike or oxygen deficiency.

Salvini cichlid feeding:

Salvini cichlids are easy to feed and will accept mostly any food including pellets and other dry food. They should be given a varied diet. I recommend you feed your Salvini cichlid Hikari pellets, Tetrabits, fresh or dried shrimps, processed bloodworms, small fish if you do not hate livefood and different frozen foods.

Salvini cichlid breeding:
The Salvini cichlid is not very difficult to breed in aquariums. if you have a pair . To form a pair the easiest way is to bring T juveniles, and raise the, You must get one pair, now remove the other fishes. These fishes are very easy to sex. The male has longer more pointy fins and the female has a patch in the centre of her dorsal fin and a spot on the lower part of her gill cover. Females also usually have more red on their bellies but that is not a sure way of sexing them.
They lay eggs on a flat surface. a The eggs are constantly guarded by both parents. Salvini cichlid fry can be fed Daphnia, Artemia or newly hatched brine shrimp as soon as they are free swimming.

Eye Biter Cichlid

2010-05-23T00:23:00.001+05:30

The Malawi Eye Biter fish has an elongated body shape, it has a triangle-shaped head, which is the best way to identify a eye biter cichlid.

This species has a reputation for eating the eyes of other fishes in the wild. That' s what behind it's name. Some feel that the eye-eating is a result from an attempt to blind its prey, other think that the eyes are a delicacy for the fish. Strangely though, this behavior has not been observed in home aquarium.
Difficulty of care: 5. A hardy fish that requires a large tank. Be aware that this species is piscivorous. Live foods are required in the diet of this fish.

In the wild this fish is a predatory fish, and they have a large mouth to catch prey. Body coloring ranges from silver to bright blue. The males usually have shining blue color, while the females have paler coloration, and more silvery. After the edges of the scales are orange giving the fish a spotted appearance. The crest of the back is a rusty-orange color and the caudal fin is body colored. The anal fin may be dark blue to bright orange with some blue. Like most other Afican cichlid the males have egg spots in their anal fin. The egg spots are white in colour. The dorsal fin is elongated and can be blue and orange-spotted with a red edging.
Maximum Size of Eye Biter Cichlid: The eye biter cichlid can reach upto 10" (25 cm) in home aquarium, in the wild they reaches slightly larger.
Habitat of Eye biter cichlid: The Eye-biter cichlid inhabits Lake Malawi in Africa. They like to be in the thickets of Vallisneria that grow from a sandy substrate.
In home aquarium they like to stay in the middle layer. But they move alost in any layer, top,bottom, for food.
Aquarium: 40-55 gallons is sufficient for smaller fish. Adult fish need larger tanks, height is not that important, a 1.5' is okay in most cases. Larger tanks are appreciated because this fish likes large open swimming areas. Use a coral sand substrate with large rock structures to create its natural environment. The sides and the corners of the tank should be heavily planted with Vallisneria. Use a filter that causes little or no current.
Water chemistry: 7.5-8.8pH is okay although they can suit in large pH variation.
Social behavior: The Malawi Eye-biter can be kept with other cichlids and catfish that are over 5" (13 cm) in length. Since they will eat any smaller fishes fit in their mouth, try to keep away from small fishes in the tank housing one or more eye biter. Keeping one male with several females is a good idea, else the male will harass the female.

Other Lake Malawi Haplochromines, Synodontis catfishes, mbunas, Polypterus, Afromastacembelus are mostly suggested to be kept with this fish.
FOOD: Live fish are the best food for this fish, although they will happily consume dry and processed food. The prey are taken tail-first, the only known predator that consumes its food in this manner.

Sexual differences: Males are more brightly colored with obvious egg-spots of the anal fin.
Breeding techniques: Breeding can be accomplished in a large tank with an abundance of Vallisneria and rock structures. Place one male with several females. The fry are incubated for about three weeks in their mother's mouth, that's why these fishes are called mouthbrooder. when they first emerge. Start feeding the young with Artemia and daphnia.
Breeding is especially possible in a large tank with only the one male and several females being placed in it.

Planted Aquarium Basics

2009-12-31T20:42:00.002+05:30

Introduction to beginner's Planted tank:

So you are the next one to enter the beautiful world of Planted tank. Here are some useful tips for you to begin your journey.
Like any other tank the first and most important thing is a tank with good dimension. But this time the bigger is not always the better, because with bigger tank you have to invest on more wattage of light, more fertilizers to add, more substrate, more to spend on CO2(Carbon Di-Oxide) per month for planted tank and obviously to buy more aquatic plants initially. And contrary to fish only tank, where we should not add all the fishes at once, instead add them in a small group, here in planted tank, we must plant almost all the plants in the very first day to prevent algae growth.

Guess you have noticed few terms, like fertilizers, substrate, algae, CO2(Carbon Di-Oxide), wattage of light and curious how those terms are related to planted tank. Let us discus:

The Tank
I will recommend a tank of dimension 2'-15"-15"(Length-Height-Breadth) for the beginner. The empty tank will be 18 US Gallon. It is a standard size aquarium, and easily available in the LFS(Local Fish Shop) at Kolkata or can be custom made. And the price of that size a tank with 6mm thick saint gobain glass will be approximately Rs. 800. For planted tank, open top tank will be the best choice, since it will help the evaporation process, and thus help keep the tank water temperature low. In this regard I want to mention that do not keep the fishes those have a tendency to jump out of water, like fancy guppy, rummynose tetra, harlequin rasbora, clouded minnows, halfbeaks, wildcaught bettas and most of the chana varieties to name a few. Neon tetra, Cardinal Tetra, angels are good fish for open top planted aquariums.
Now if you do not want to take the risk, you can still put a hood on, but remember keep a little gap between the tank top and the hood, Alternately, you can also put a net over the tank to keep the fishes inside the tank.
To make aquariums and hoods(both wooden and fibre made) for planted tanks at Kolkata you can contact Buroda,(contact no. 9836980720), he is a famous tankmaker guy here at Kolkata, and his tanks are even used by ADA, here.

Light for Planted Tank

Proper light is one of the most important factor in any type of gardening. In underwater plantation also, it is customary to have a good knowledge on the proper light needed for your aquarium. Less light, the plant will not grow and stay healthy, excess light, the tank will become an algae factory.
For a 18 US Gallon tank, that I am recommending for the beginners, the light required is 18*3=54watts on an average. The multiplier '3' is called the WPG(Watt per Gallon). WPG depends on the choice of plant, tank size and many other parameters. For our case, we stick to 3 WPG.

Now for lights there are hell lot of options to chose from. But we will stick to simpler cheaper solutions, normal 2' length T8 tubes of 18watts. T8 tubes are those we use in rooms, the thinner ones and PLLs of 36watts. We use either of the brands Philips, Osram and GE. We add one PLL and one T8, that will count 36+18=54watts. You do not need to be so accurate, while chosing lights, you can always plus minus 4-5watts from what you get by actual calculation. Now you may think why not 3 T8 tubes. Actually I always prefer Mixing of Lights, in terms of light types and also brand names. When you will start the journey into planted world you will learn how lumen, lux, kelvin rating, color temperature etc lots of parameters control proper plant growth. So mixing of lights will help you meet all the necessary requirements of plants. At present all the parameters can not be reached by one single light. Even super costly ADA lights does not fit the bill.

Okay, now you bought the lights, fix them in the hood of the planted tank, if any, or place them vertically over the tank top, in any case use a aluminium sheet over the light as reflector to protect light diffusing outwards. Kitchen foil are an alternative, but you have to change it once in 4-6 months. You can also buy a light fixtures with reflectors separately for PLL and T8 those are available at Esras Street, Kolkata. A fixture will cost you around Rs. 350-500 at Kolkata. The brand Diamond has pretty good fixtures in various ranges.

Substrate for Planted Tank

For the cheapest solution use laterite, freely available at roadside, in Bengali it is called MORUM and we get it directly from nature. Google on 'Laterite' and you will understand.

If you have collected it as rock forms, break down it into smaller parts, you do not need it as laterite powder. You have to make two layers of substrate, the lower one will be of laterite, an inch thick is enough and the second layer will be made by 3-4mm river gravel or course sand. The second layer can be 2-3" thick.

CO2(Carbon Di Oxide) for Planted Tank

For good growth of plants you have to supply CO2 in a constant rate. You can either use DIY Yeast+Sugar method to produce CO2 or you can spend some money and buy a pressurized CO2 kit for the planted aquarium.

Pressurized CO2 kit is far better for planted aquarium. And no CO2 planted tank can never give you that much pleasure.

Fertilizers for Planted tank
After one week of plantation, you have to regularly feed your plants, that means to dose fertilizers. Arrange some lab grade KNO3,K2SO4 and KH2PO4. The method of making ferts(fertilizers) for planted tank is as follows:

Collect three 500ml bottles and make solutions of each of the chemicals. In a 500ml bottle you need to add one tablespoon of chemicals. Label the bottle with the chemical in it. Now put one cap each of KNO3 and K2SO4 every alternate day, and KH2PO4 twice in a week. These are macro nutrients, if you do regular water change, you do not need to worry about micro nutrients.

Fish for Planted Tank

Smaller schooling fish is the best fish for planted tank. These includes tetras, rasboras, killifish, guppy, dwarf rainbowfish and lot more. At Kolkata the Sunday market Galiff street offers various fish ideal for planted tank. Alternately you can keep angel, danisoni or dwarf cichlids as well. Discus in planted tank looks awesome, but they are not for the beginners.

Beginner's Plants for Planted Tank
You have to chose plants carefully according to light you are providing. For the above mentioned tank and light you have various options. Ludwigia Repens, hygrophila polysperma, hygrophila corymbosa, hygrophila difformis, HM(Hemianthus micranthemoides), najas indica, Rotala Rotundifolia, are good stem plants for beginners. Java moss, Flame moss, anubias nana, anubias barteri youcan tie on some rocks and put in the tank. The mosses do want cold water.
First try to grow aquatic plants, then think about how to decorate your underwater garden, that means aquascaping your planted tank.

For further Informations on Planted Tank Setup and Aquascaping Planted Tank continue reading on:

Light for Planted tank
Substrate for Planted tank
CO2 for Planted tank
Fertilizers for Planted tank
Algae in Planted tank
Accessories for Planted tank
Plants of different requirements
Fish for Planted tank
Inverts for Planted tank

This article is for those who are just going to start their journey in the planted world.

CO2 for Planted Tank

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CO2(Carbon Di Oxide)

As all of you know during photosynthesis plants use CO2, and with help of light and some macro/micro elements make food. So CO2 is in the primary importance for plants. You can use DIY Yeast+Sugar method to produce CO2. Alternately, you can spend some money and buy a pressurized CO2 kit.

From my personal experience I have learned that pressurized CO2 kit is a must have for any planted tank to maintain stable rate of CO2 in the tank.
For a pressurised CO2 system for your planted aquarium you have to buy first a CO2 cylinder, preferably 2kg. You can also go for a 5kg cylinder, it will last longer, but it will be heavier and will be a problem when you carry it to a CO2 refilling Centre to refill the empty cylinder after few months. Also you have to keep in mind that for a large tank, you have to efill a 2kg cylinder frequently. So chose according to the tank size and choice of plants. Secondly you have to buy a CO2 regulator, to decrease the cylinder pressure according to your need. A dual gauge regulator will be better, one gauge will read the pressure in the cylinder and the other one will read the pressure in the outside nozzle. Then come the needle valve for fine tuning the CO2 emission rate. After that you need a CO2 diffuser or CO2 reactor to diffuse the co2 in the tank water. You probably thinking what is the solenoid part doing in the picture. Actually solenoid is needed to switch on/off the CO2 system electrically. This part is not at all necessary if you want to source CO2 in the tank 24hours.

Substrate for Planted Tank

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Substrate in Planted Tank

Substrate is the base of the planted aquarium where we have to plant the plants. Most of plants grow roots inside the substrate and take nutrients from the substrate. So a nutrient enriched substrate is highly important for healthy growth of the aquatic plants. As I have mentioned in the Beginner's Planted Set up Guide, the cheapest substrate solution is laterite, freely available at roadside, in West Bengal.

I have also mentioned in that post how to use it as substrate for planted aquarium.

In this post I will discus some general substrate ideas for planted tankDIY products and also the Commercial subsrate for planted tank like ADA Amazonia/Africana, Seachem flourite, Oceanfree etc. available in the market. including the

DIY Substrate for Planted Tank:

The first layer will be 2" deep. For this layer the first option is obviously laterite. If you can not source laterite then go for garden soil. The best way of using garden soil as substrate for planted aquarium is to boil the soil for few minutes and then dry it (Check out Algae). Your substrate alternate to laterite is ready.

Now in the DIY section also you can mix some Soilrite, which is a commercial substrate used for gardenning. Soilrite at Kolkata can be found near Hazra more. a 3:1 ratio of laterite/garden soil and soilrite is good. You can also mix composed fertilizers available in the plant nurseries with the substrate in planted tank. For Kolkata planted aquarium lovers, you can find composed near Sealdah Railway Station(South section).

If you source laterite, then also you can add some garden soil. If you do not want to mix them fully, there is a tricky method, you can make few small bullets of garden soil, and dry it for 2-3 days in Sunlight. Then put these bullets in the substrate along with laterite.

The next step is topping up the real substrate or making the second layer. You should use sand or small sand gravels for this purpose. 2-3mm gravels or course sand is good. The second layer will be 2-3" deep.

You have to insert the stem plants only upto the end of the upper layer, after some days the plants will grow roots inside the lower layer themselves.

You can make a nice valley effect in the base only by putting a thermocol/styrofoam in some portion of the back side bottom of the tank first and then putting the substrate so that the height of the substrate is less in the front portion of the tank.

Commercial Substrate for Planted Tank:
There are few commercial substrates available in the market. You have to just buy them and put in the tank.ADA makes the most popular ones. It's little costly.

Light for planted tank

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Light for Planted Tank

There are various options in the light for planted tank, you can use either of the T12, T8, T5, T5HO, PLL, CFL, MH lights. The choice depend on the tank dimension, the choice of plants, the availability of the lights in your place and obviously on your budget. Also you must plan for the reflector of the light along with the light. Reflector of the light is the most important counterpart of light in planted tank.

Space saving Aquarium Ideas, the Triangular Aquarium,

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Irregular shaped Aquarium:
Do you want to have an aquarium, but have no space in room. Well, you can go for a unique triangular shaped aquarium in the corner of the room, even it can be placed at the corner of the steps.

The triangular aquariums in my home

In today's small 2rooms flat life it is very difficult to house a 2-3' space for aquarium. Atleast here in Kolkata,India we do not have big rooms to keep an aquarium in the middle of the room. So go with this irregular shaped aquariums and start your hobby. The visitors to your home will be amazed by the idea, for sure.

With 2' as the perpendicular sides, it will be a alternate to a rectangular tank with 2*1 sq feet as base. I suppose height is not a space factor for one. So height you can choose according to your need, or to say properly according to your tank inhabitant's need. I just want to add that anything more than 2' is bad if you do not forget about the regular maintenance of the tank. If you are going for planted tank the height should be lesser, 15" is an ideal, or go for 18" for lowlight plants. Lights have to penetrate the water column, so increase the height you have to arrange more wattage of lights(as the water volume will increase along the increase of height of the tank), and lights with more penetrating powers will be needed. Now the penetrating power of light in the aquarium depends on various parameters, like lumen, lux etc. So if you do not want to create confusion about light, stay at 15-18" height.

If you want you can make a iron or wood stand with 2 racks and go for 2 aquariums in those 2 racks. Keep in mind you have to do maintenances regularly. So keep at least 7-8" space over each of the tanks.

Okay, much talks on height, now think what advantages you are obtaining from the cornet tank.

1. the viewing side, the hypotenious will be much larger, for 2' on the perpendicular sides, the viewing glass will be approximately 29". It seems the tank is bigger, and you will get more options in aquascaping your waterworld.

2. As the room corners are not so useful, and occassionally used for decoration with plants or beautiful pots, a living decoration will not irritate your home department, I mean your wife/mother.

3. The reflection will be zero from the backside glass relative to the rectangular tanks.

4. As you get one corner in the center of the tank, you can create a big cave structure there for cichlids, and on both sides create small caves.

5. For planted tanks you can create a aquascaping with some long driftwoods. Here in Kolkata, we particularly love the planted tanks.

Disadvantages, yes, it has a few.

1. First and most important is that your Local fish Shop(LFS) may not agree to make one for you, as these shaped tanks are not very common, and most probably they never made one.

2. If someone agree, then also tell him to polish the edges of the glasses so that the edges match.

3. You have to Use long tweezer to plant small plants in the corners of the planted triangular aquarium.

4. If you are going for internal power filters two filters will be better for proper circulation. If you are going to use external filters, then also a Internal Power Filter should be used in the side corner for circulation purpose.

Current condition of my triangular tank

Cycling Aquarium

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Introduction to cycling a new tank:
After buying a new tank and filling it with water, what is the first thing you do? Rush to the local fish shop and get hand to some colorful attractive fishes, right? And put them in your new tank. The tank is great to see now, is not it? You are so happy and proud of your new fish tank. Totally wrong, you should regret what you did just few minutes ago.

It is very much important that before putting any fish in the new tank you create an ideal condition for them to live in it comfortably.
Otherwise you will find all your fishes dying one by one, called the New Tank Syndrome. This in most cases is a major disappointment for the beginner and he/she starts losing interest in the hobby.

Why do we need to cycle the tank:
Like all living beings fishes also produce waste, these nitrogenous waste products break down into ammonia (NH3), which is highly toxic to all the fishes. In nature, the volume of water per fish is extremely high, and waste products become diluted to low concentrations. In aquariums as it has small water volume, however, it can take as little as a few hours for ammonia concentrations to reach toxic levels. Every newly set up aquarium goes through a process of establishing beneficial bacterial colonies which in their turn breaks down ammonia into nitrite and then nitrite to nitrate in two steps(refer to nitrogen cycle). Here comes the cycling of the new tank.

There are 2 ways you can cycle a new freshwater fish tank:

Without Fish(Fishless cycling)
With Fish

Cycling a tank without Fish:
Now you have your fish tank ready and water filled in. Turn on your thermostat, filter and air pump. Put some lab grade solution of ammonia(diluted ammonium hydroxide or ammonium chloride) and a starter colony of bacteria into the tank. A small piece of meat or prawn can be a good alternative to raw ammonia. Even some recommend urine as a possible source of ammonia, but this is quite debated and not so popular. In this regard please keep in mind that while 4-5ppm ammonia is good for starting the bacteria culture, more will not move the process faster. Instead you will end up with a very low pH water volume in which bacteria can not survive. Now about the starter bacteria colony you can use a filter(or the filter cartridge) from an established tank. This filter already has the bacteria needed to breakdown ammonia and nitrites. Another method used is to transfer little bit gravel from an established tank. Bacteria fertility rate is very high, so within a week or so there will be an established bacterial colony to fight with toxic chemicals harmful to fishes. Now a days there are commercial products available such as Bio-Spira which can cycle a tank overnight.
Now the other parameters, bacteria thrives at about 80 degrees Fahrenheit. Fix your tank's thermostat at a higher temperature while cycling fishelss, the process will be faster. Turn on the light 4-5 hours per day, it will help bacteria population to grow faster. Turn on your air pumps, put as many airstone as you can, turn on the filters, if you are using internal power filter, let the air enter the water through the filter nozzle, in short oxygenate the water as much as you can, the bacteria will thrive.

Cycle the tank With Fish:
You can use some hardy fishes while cycling your tank as well. The fish waste will do the work of raw chemicals. Some people still believe cycling never starts without fishes in the tank and it is the most natural way to cycle a new fish tank. Although we differ as cycling a new tank with any type of fishes will stress it a lot, with no bacteria present initially to lower down the ammonia/nitrite level, it is really torture to a fish. However, people use hardy and cheap fishes like guppy, molly etc to cycle their tank. Do not put many fishes, 3-4 fishes is enough. If possible, feed them on live food, do regular water changes, turn on the filters, air pumps, lights and thermostat(at a suitable temperature as your fish like) as before.

In any of the ways, cycling a new tank will take almost 3-4weeks.

In a planted tank however the cycle does not take so much time, as plants themselves use nitrates while photosynthesis, so with less number of fishes present you can start a planted tank with as less as 4days pre cycle.

Maintaining the Bacteria colony:
Now like everything these bacteria colony too want proper maintenance. Clean the filters with tank water, do not use tap water, and never ever use hot water, it will destroy the bacterial colony. Use of two filters or filter with two cartridges is highly recommended, never clean the two simultaneously. When you are cleaning one, it's bacterial colony will somewhat disturbed and take some time to go back to its proper stage, the other filter in the mean time can take the lead role.

Convict Cichlids, the easiest cichlid to breed

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Convict Cichlid, the best beginner cichlid:
If you have a 20gallon tank, you can easily think of keeping cichlid fishes, never before kept any of them. Then try Convict cichlids, Amatitlania (Archocentrus) nigrofasciata. Fairly easy fish to take care of, water chemistry is never an issue for this fishes, the pocket sized monsters who can stand against a fish twice of its size. Even there are instances where a mated pair of convicts kill a twice sized oscar fish kept in the same tank. But I will recommend to first time go with a species specific tank, that is a tank with convicts only.

The albino pair of mine, the front one is the male

Classification of Convict Cichlids:
Order: Perciformes
Family: Cichlidae
Genera: Amatitlania (Archocentrus)
Species: nigrofaciata

Size of Convict cichlid:
a full grown convict reaches 5-6 inches (15cm) in home aquarium, females are an inch or two smaller than the male convicts.

Minimum tank size to keep and breed convict:
At least 20 gallons is necessary to house a mated pair of convict.
pH: 6.0 to 8.0 (Convict can tolerate an wide range of pH if kept stable)
Temperature: 68°- 80°F (20° to 27° C)
And an important fact is that they are not in the IUCN Red List.
These fishes are widely distributed in various regions of Central America like Guatemala, El Salvadore, Costa Rica and Panama.
It has black vertical bars on it's bluish-lavender body. There is usually a pink tinge to it's belly, and well-kept fish will have an iridescent pattern on their fins and sides. Both the dark stripes and pink belly become more pronounced during breeding. Males usually have darker stripes and pointier fins (in addition to their usually larger size), and fully mature ones will sometimes have a bit of a hump on their head. Females have pinker bellies and are usually rounder.
There are various morph or variety of convict cichlids present in the hobby., like the pink convict or albino convict and marble convict. These two are little bit difficult to breed in comparison with the normal striped convicts and are costlier and hard to find. At Kolkata, you can find the normal and the albino convict quite regularly at the Sunday market of Galiff street.

These fishes are amazing survivors and adaptors. pH, temperature, if kept stable, are never a problem for them to adjust.

Only one thing to keep in mind is that convicts are not for the weak of heart and for those fishkeepers with peaceful community tank fish. These fishes are NOT known for their gentle dispositions, and need to be kept with other aggressive, larger fish that will hold their own (it can and will harass some fish to death). They are best kept alone or with their own kind, but fascinating fish to watch. Or you can build a CS set up, Central South American community tank with single convict, oscar,green terrors etc. The reason convict should be kept single in a tank with other species is that they becomes most aggressive during the time of spawing.

The free swimming fries, 10 days old

Breeding convict cichlid:
Convicts are among the easiest bred fish in captivity, they breed like livebearers, and usually the convict keeper has a problem of keeping the baby fries, they breed in every 2weeks, or sometime less than that. And the parents usually care for the fries for 10days or so, and eat them before the next batch arrives. Sp you have to be sure that you separate all the fries from the parents before that. Only thing you have to provide is a flower pot, or rock made cave where the females will lay the eggs.

Feeding convict cichlid:

Convicts can be fed a variety of foods, including flakes, cichlid pellets, frozen/live brine shrimp, blood worms, and vegetables like chopped-up spinach leaves. You can alkso feed them on chopped shrimps. They will also love occasional treat of feeder guppys. They are omnivorous, and not picky eaters, but very greedy.

The best way to get a pair of convicts is to buy 6 small sized ones, and raised them till a pair is formed naturally, and then remove the rest. I have successfully kept and bred the albino convicts in a 2-1-1(L-B-H) tank. Later I have experimented on crossbreeding one normal striped male with an albino female, but that was a failure.

The set up with a normal male convict with two female albinos.